BASEYou are young and successful artist and already try yourself in a role of a teacher. What are the traits of character that move you forward?Discipline no matter the circumstances.The name of your course carries the name “Oil shale course”. How you came to the idea to do jewellery out of oil shale?As I am from Sillamäe town and its history connected with oil shale production this theme is close to my heart. Just after Master’s project defence I was asked by Professor Kadri Mälk to conduct this course. The opportunity of teaching raised amazement in me. I thought that I need to prove the trust that was given to me.How Do you remain afloat while being a jewellery artist? What motivates and pushes you? I like the words of photographer Sally Mann in her biographical movie What Remains: “As an artist your trajectory just has to keep going up. The thing that subverts your next body of work is the work you’ve taken before”.How important are ethical values to you? Is there any material that you would never use or everything depends on the concept?
This is a question of inner feeling. Rationally we understand that jewellery while being cultural heritage must be made out of sustainable materials. Jewellery artist Ezra Satok-Wolman has same opinion, he states that the usage of non-sustainable materials in contemporary jewellery leads to a reduction of its quality. He asks how these “new” materials will look like in 10, 20, 50 years, after plastics and resins have faded and lost colour, wood has split and splintered, and glues have eroded away?
However, in contemporary jewellery art, that distinguished for this diversity in materials, it becomes clear that material value is relative. Jewellery may not be made out of metal. And this is great because it reflects our evolution. Thereafter, why any material may be non-ethical? In my opinion, chosen material should firstly reflect the urges and vibrations of an epoch.
Do you connect yourself creatively with that area where you live? Does geographical situation possess value?
Undoubtedly long winter nights and white days influence me. It is difficult to be bright In Estonia.
OWN CREATIVITY AND TEACHING Do your works suffer because of teaching or on the contrary? Do you have time to do your own works? How do you plan the day?
I consider myself a happy person because work and hobby are joint. Both spheres; teaching and working on own projects belong to the own self and there is nothing unnatural to combine them. This is as if to print on two different typewriters. I hold the schedule concentrated alternating intellectual and manual jobs.
Do you see differences between students and yourself? Does it disturb you? Once the gallery owner Olga Biro told me that students who have finished a university have “to boil” for a while in a pot of independence, not to teach just after the defence. Her words forced me to feel lost. I thought why is it necessary to establish a difference in bundles of experience? Therefore, of course, students are different among themselves, but being same age with them, in my opinion, helps to eliminate these distances.How do you involve creativity in a teaching process? Do you give an example of your hard work or your relation to what happens around?
My students were able to follow me around. I worked in the school – I was always there for my students. They had the opportunity to ask me in terms of the course or work I am currently doing. In this situation, they saw how I stand for my work. They also saw unsuccessful attempts. I think that to be near was the best thing that I could give them.

STUDENT Do you feel inner interest of the students or you notice the attitude “I will make as it will be ordered”?
It is very difficult to understand what you really want. The task consists in understanding it. If I understand them, I can see their internal fire / interest. Only then I can give advice. All talks on “appearance” of jewellery leads to nothing. If so happens, I will rather prefer to give student a break, but I never “order”.Do you like when student asks a lot, or it disturbs you when nobody is asking?
I need questions from my students and they need my questions. Then, conversation may turn into something important for those to whom I want to tell something. Because I see what they want to tell, asking these questions. It is a thing from two sides – an exchange of charisma. Have you faced depression while teaching, grief or fear of students? How have you got out of the situation?
These feelings is an illness of transitional time. Transition from “relation” to “form”. The task – to understand that it is normal because everyone who wants to grasp a mainstay has these feelings. I can say: “You need to put yourself into uncertain, unfamiliar territory. Only then discoveries can be made.” In other words if a student overcomes the suffering, only then, he can turn it into experience – no pain no gain.
Have you noticed cases when students open unexpectedly? Have you opened the subjects in group discussions?
There are more and less reserved students. During the project it may happen that a student doesn’t appear on conversations for a while. Then you think, whether is it a deliberate stealth or just fear? I can often be interested where is he and when will he come. However, in the end a result can be unbelievable, and this is great because the power of specialness consists in it. First of all, we worked in groups discussing and developing attitude to the oil shale. Students prepared moodboards of their informative preferences. These may have been visual images, a poem, or just a fact. In other words, it was necessary to use as a research tool. Because the form is not important, attitude to something is.
For sure, it is a challenge to help students to transform their ideas into functional objects. Do your students dare to make mistakes? Do you, for instance, induce them to make mistakes?
Yes, fog, fog … For me it is one of the most important parts of mistakes – to get lost in order to get found again. As Manfred Bischoff said: “… they [students] do things that normally in dialectical thinking they don’t. They do things in certain delirium, in a kind of between-ness, in a kind of twilight. And that’s very nice.”
How does it seem to you, do modern technological novelties help to achieve good results easier? Does it demand additional inputs from you to be aware of everything in the scientific world?
I believe that jewellery has its own inseparable value. No matter how fast the technological changes happen, the principal ordinance of jewellery still has not become particularly prominent. We continue to call brooch a brooch and a ring is still a ring. Although it should be noted that jewellery artists create more and more rules and therefore jewellery acquires more faces. As a teacher I’m not obliged to know everything about technical achievements. This is a meditative subject, because while conducting a course you’re thinking all the time about your students. I can wake up at night and think about that, ” … this kind of thing could work.” As it possesses to my senses, I am always sensitive to the technological possibilities, whether consciously or unconsciously.Is the diversity in materials and the rapid development encourage you or frighten? Generally, there are two types of projects. First is when students get abstracts themes where material needs to be applied. Second way is to provide the material to which idea comes. Oil shale as an idea was the most important. Focus should be on oil shale as a material with its physical-chemical and treatment qualities as well as its symbolical meaning. Therefore, the material diversity was not in our focus. We worked with metaphysical purpose – we tried to show the inner cosmos of the material in several dimensions.

RECOGNITION, CRITICS What is the feeling towards your work at your home place? I was born in Sillamae, grown up in a family of artist and photographer. I was always surrounded by creativity and therefore my family feel joy over my life choices. How do you feel when students’ works are criticised? Do you take it personally? I take personally. I ask critics: “Do you think another way it would be better? Why?” There are a lot of possibilities that may direct to interesting solutions.

VALUES What are the values ​​that you give further to students? What do you advice them for the future?
My advice to young students would be: create your own secret garden with maintained verbal and material pillars. To feel urges of life, ask questions, read with enthusiasm!

CONCLUSION If things would go catastrophically wrong, will you continue as a teacher the same way?
Yes.